Moonlight
by MedliSage
Summary: Richass week 2016 day 1, prompt: Aquamarine - peace, serenity, protection. Pre-game. Tiny Asbel and Richard.


"Oh fair knight, will you really go? It will be fraught with danger. Should you not stay? You can live well here, and people will admire you."

"Nay, I must go. I shan't abandon anyone in need, much less my very own friend."

"Oh honorable knight of noble heart, you are so brave. May fortunes shine upon you as -"

 _Thunk._

Richard's hushed voiced stopped as he froze, eyes leaving the pages of his book to stare at his door. His heart hammered against his chest, and his hands started to tremble. The soft sound of footsteps in the hall outside his door was unmistakable - but he spared a second's glance at the clock on his wall. Wasn't it too early for the usual patrol?

With only a moment's hesitation, he carefully and silently slid out of his bed. His curtains were closed, leaving his room extremely dark, but he needed not even the moonlight to guide him around his room. Reaching under his bed, he grabbed a bag already weighted with contents and slipped the book inside, and in exchange took from it a rope. With rushed footsteps made his way to the window, while the ones outside drew closer to his room. Tonight. It had to be tonight.

The footsteps stopped outside his door. It could be nothing. It often was. But he wasn't going to spend another night in a row like this.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled a curtain back, the moonlight flooding his vision. Without pause he opened the window, just enough to toss an end of the rope down. The other end he brought over to his bedpost, quickly tying it in a secure knot.

After making his way back to the window he gave the rope a test tug, and with his heart still pounding he began his descent down a level and to the ground.

* * *

All was dark. Nearly pitch black, in fact - Asbel could barely see his hands in front of his face. Nevertheless he ran ahead into the seemingly endless darkness. His breaths came in labored, hard pants that burned his lungs. His legs ached, but he kept going, sprinting without pause. Just a little closer -

His heart stopped as the pigtailed figure he had been chasing collapsed, her body swallowed by the blackness beneath her.

"Sophie!" Asbel yelled, his voice echoing in the nothingness. "Sophie!"

But there was no reply and no trace of her. Too late. Of course he couldn't save her.

He fell to his knees and stared at his hands. In the darkness, they seemed smaller. Beneath them, his worn knight academy uniform was dirty. In the past couple of months he had been here, had he truly gained nothing? Was he always to be this useless, this powerless to protect anybody?

"Asbel…?"

The voice came from where Sophie had fallen. It wasn't Sophie's voice, though - but one he knew just as well.

Asbel stood instantly. "Richard?"

"Asbel - help - please -"

He saw it then - right from where Sophie had fallen, a hand was reaching up through the darkness. Faster than he thought his legs could carry him, Asbel was there, and no sooner Richard had let go and he was plummeting -

With a cry of the other's name Asbel leapt after him, grabbing Richard's hand with one of his and the seemingly invisible edge of darkness with the other.

"Richard, I've got you, don't worry - it's going to be okay," Asbel said quickly, trying in vain to pull both of them back up.

"I don't want to go back to the castle, Asbel." Richard's voice was thick, nearly choked on held back sobs and downright terror. "Asbel, why didn't you save me at the catacombs?"

"I tried - Richard, I - I'm sorry -"

"You didn't even protect Sophie. And now you're going to let me fall, too. You can't pull us both back up, Asbel -"

"That's not true!" Asbel nearly screamed, tears clouding his vision for reasons far from the pain nearly numbing his arms. "That's not true! Richard, trust me, I -"

His speech stopped with his heart as he felt Richard's hand slipping.

"Goodbye, Asbel…"

"Richard!"

He could still hear Richard's voice echoing.

"Asbel… Asbel…"

And then Asbel was sitting bolt upright in his bed, a cold sweat over him as he took in loud, shuddering breaths.

"Asbel, are you okay? Shh - shh, someone will hear -"

Asbel looked around wildly. It was dark, but not a pitch black darkness. He was, of course, in his room at the knight academy, in his bed next to the tall window through which the moonlight poured in. All was normal, except for the figure crouched next to his bed.

His eyes were glossed with worry, and his chest moved in tiny, shallow contractions. But even in his nearly panic stricken state, Richard was - pretty, honestly. In his short life of eleven years Asbel hadn't really found anyone "pretty," but there was no other word to describe Richard's appearance better. His soft hair shimmered in the moonlight and his skin seemed to glow. But Asbel kept his eyes focused on Richard's.

"Richard, what's going on? What are you doing here?" Asbel asked quietly.

"That can wait," Richard replied in the same hushed tone. "Are you okay? It seemed like you were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you up, but it took a minute…"

Asbel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his heart still pounding against his chest, but starting to slow a bit. "I'm okay now…. Sorry to worry you."

Richard shook his head. "Don't apologize. I'm just glad you're okay." A soft smile graced his face, and Asbel now found his heart failing to slow down anymore.

"But really Richard - why are you here?"

At his question, Richard looked away, biting his lip a moment. "Well - um, I wanted to see you," he said. "I've checked the roster on the knight academy because I thought you'd enroll… I know you've been here a couple months, and I haven't come yet because… well, I'm not allowed out of the castle. And… I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me."

"What are you talking about?" Asbel said, voice rising in alarm, causing Richard to press a finger to his own lips with a worried expression. Continuing in a now-hushed but still urgent tone, Asbel said, "Of course I wanted to see you. I just - I didn't think I deserved to yet. I… I need to be stronger."

Richard sat back, eyes cast downward. "You're the strongest person I know, Asbel. If anything, I…" But he stopped and shook his head once before he spoke again. "But… I am worried that even the ring, I gave you, you wouldn't be able to come see me right now."

"Really? Why does everyone just want to lock you up, Richard? I don't get it."

"It's… just how being a prince is," Richard said. "Um, Asbel," he added quickly, "I… I heard about… what happened."

A hugely vague statement, but Asbel knew exactly what he meant. His hands clenched his bedsheet tightly. "It's my fault. I couldn't protect her."

"Don't say something like that," Richard said instantly. "You can't be blamed. I - I was the one who told you to come, anyway."

"That doesn't matter. I - she was right in front of me, Richard. And I… I was useless."

"Asbel," Richard said, leaning forward again, but this time placing both of his hands on one of Asbel's. "Please…. don't blame yourself. You didn't do anything wrong."

Asbel gave no reply. Richard's hand was warm and soft against his own, and even if he didn't agree with him, for right now things seemed peaceful.

After a moment he glanced behind Richard, noticing a brown bag. "What's that, Richard?"

Richard met his gaze and then looked over to the bag. "Oh. It's… stuff I brought." He dragged it over and opened it. "I didn't want to just show up without bringing you anything. I'm not sure what you usually have to eat here, but -" he pulled out a wrapped bowl - "this is some food from dinner… the food at the castle is usually pretty good, and I thought you might like this. It's curry."

"I love curry!" Asbel said, taking the bowl and gazing inside eagerly. "How did you know?"

Richard only gave a tiny shrug, looking back down as a wide smile came upon him. "This is a little first aid kit. So you can bring it around with you. You know - just in case," he said, handing Asbel the small, plastic box.

"Thanks, Richard… you didn't have to do all this, you know."

"It's the least I can do. Especially since I'm already imposing on you…"

Asbel smiled, placing a hand on Richard's. "Hey, you already helped me tonight. You woke me up from my bad dream, and…" he paused, eyes glancing to the floor and then back up to him, "seeing you is probably the only thing that would have made me feel better. So thanks."

Richard's face flushed as he looked down, his expression mostly obscured by the poor lighting. "I should be thanking you. You're… you're always here when I need you."

Asbel's smile only stretched wider. "I always want to be that person for you, Richard."

Finally Richard looked back up at him, brushing his bangs away with his free hand. "You too, Asbel. Thank you."

Yet Asbel's smile faltered. "You're welcome… are _you_ okay though, Richard? Have… you been sleeping okay? You kind of have dark circles under your eyes."

"Oh," Richard said, instantly look back down. "Oh, yes, I'm fine… I just haven't been sleeping great."

"You should stay here for a bit," Asbel offered. "I mean… well, can you?"

Richard's eyes closed in thought for a moment. "...As long as I'm back before dawn, it should be okay…"

"Great!" Asbel beamed. "You should come up here. Get off the floor." After placing the bowl and first aid kit on his nightstand, Asbel scooted over, leaning against the wall and patting a spot beside him.

"Thank you."

Richard stood and Asbel felt his heart skip a beat. Standing in full view of the moon, Richard was honestly nearly ethereal looking.

Tearing his gaze away, Asbel found his eyes again on the bag Richard had brought, only to notice something still sticking out of it. "Is that a book?"

"Mmhm," Richard said, already reaching down to grab it. "I… I thought you might like it. I've already read it a dozen times," he said, handing it over.

Asbel took it and examined the cover. _The Tale of the Prince, the Snake, and the Most Noble Knight._ The front was adorned with an illustration of a knight and his companion on a horse, on a cliff at sunset.

"It's a little cliché sometimes" Richard said, glancing from the window to Asbel and then back again, "but mostly not. I won't spoil it, but it's not all about a knight saving a princess."

Asbel smiled a little. Not only at Richard's cute abashedness - he had turned the book over, and noted the worn pages, the creased spine. It was a well-loved, well-read book.

"Thank you, Richard. I'm sure it's great… but I don't think I can take something so important to you," Asbel said, looking at Richard with concern.

"Well, then just consider it on loan," Richard said with a small smile as he crawled onto the bed and sat next to Asbel. His smile faded, though, and his gaze left Asbel again. "Is it… really okay if I stay? Shouldn't you get back to sleep?"

Asbel shook his head. "It's fine. I went to bed early today. And I can't miss having you here."

"If you're sure," Richard said, last word drawn out with a yawn.

Curiously, Asbel opened the book to its first page. "Once upon a time," he read aloud, "a kingdom prospered with bright green fields and clear blue skies."

Richard leaned closer, head against Asbel's shoulder to look at the book. Asbel felt his heart do a small jump.

" _One of the reasons the kingdom prospered so was because of its loving rulers. The king was a kind and gentle man, and the queen a caring and intelligent woman. Together they saw that their people were not only safe, but happy._

 _However, their young son, while as gentle as his father and as smart and his mother, was not happy. He was very lonely. He had only one friend - a knight at the castle. However even so, the knight was often sent away for work, and the prince rarely saw him. So the prince spent much of his time wandering the castle gardens by himself._

 _It was on one such walk that his life changed._

' _Hello,' said a voice._

' _Who's there?' said the Prince, looking around the empty gardens._

' _Look below,' said the voice, and when the Prince did he gasped in terror. A long, red snake had emerged from the bushes, with gleaming, bright yellow eyes._

' _Be not afraid,' said the Snake. 'I will not hurt you.'_

' _Then what is it that you want?' asked the Prince._

' _I want you to come with me,' said the Snake. 'I need help. I need to do things that I cannot do. But it will be possible with your intelligence, and with your human limbs. And you are lonely. I will be with you, now, should you help me.'_

' _But how can I trust you?' asked the Prince._

' _Know that I am lonely too,' said the Snake. 'There are no other Snakes like me. Have you ever seen a Snake with eyes as bright as mine, or a Snake with scales as vivid red as mine? We can ease each other's loneliness. All will be well. Come with me.'_

 _And so the Prince left with the Snake."_

"I bet the Snake isn't being totally honest," said Asbel. "Right, Richard?"

Richard gave no reply.

Asbel looked over at him. Richard's eyes were fluttering back shut, and his chest was rising and falling in steady, slow movements. For a moment, Asbel simply watched him. He wasn't quite sure he had ever seen Richard so relaxed and at peace.

His eyes glanced toward his bedside clock, a wave of sleepiness washing over him. It was nearly one in the morning. He had truly gone to bed earlier than usual, but having Richard here, leaning against him in all his warmth - Asbel couldn't think of anywhere more comfortable.

He turned the page of the book. Below the next page's text was an illustration of the knight on the cover - presumably the Prince's friend - in the same garden that Prince had last been in, looking around it.

Asbel's eyes started to move across the text, eager to know if the Knight would find him, but the words were becoming blurred and hard to read.

...He'd wake soon, surely, so this was okay. He knew Richard had to get back before dawn. If all else failed, his alarm was set to go off well before dawn so he could do his morning stretches. Even if there was far worse waiting at the dawn, Asbel wasn't sure he could keep himself awake now no matter what he did - he was sure that there was probably nothing more tranquil than this.

He laid a hand over Richard's, leaning his head against his, and let sleep take him for the second time that night. This time, though, it was perfectly peaceful.

* * *

so guess who didn't do anything ahead of time and is now going to do all their richass week things on the day of (me). anyway thanks for reading, hope you liked.


End file.
